Seasonal variation in abundance, diel vertical migration and body size of pelagic tunicate Salpa fusiformis in the Southern Yellow Sea

Mass occurrence of Salpa fusiformis was observed in the Southern Yellow Sea in May and June 2007. In order to investigate its population recruitment and environmental adaptation, temporal variation of abundance, diel vertical migration (DVM) and length frequency distribution of both aggregate and solitary forms were studied with samples collected from eight months during September 2006 to August 2007. S. fusiformis presented in six months other than September and October 2006, and average abundance of aggregate and solitary forms peaked in June and May, respectively. In December, aggregate forms were absent in the bottom layer and performed irregular DVM from surface to 50 m depth, while solitary forms was too scarce to perform diel vertical distribution analysis. Both aggregate and solitary forms presented reverse DVM in May and June. They migrated upwards during daytime and concentrated in surface layer at sunset. The bimodal distribution of aggregate forms was found in April and the average size was largest in this month. In other months, the smaller aggregate forms (1–5 mm) dominated in populations except for May, when the modal size ranged from 2 to 8 mm. The average size of solitary forms was largest in December, followed by April. The skewed nomal distribution of solitary forms was found in May and June, with the modal size of 2–7 mm and 5–13 mm, respectively.